The Unwelcome Case
by JennyHart
Summary: Nancy never seems to be happy except when she is on a case. That is until she get a case where the lives of two of her friends are hanging in the balance. She was used to working side by side with the Hardy boys to solve cases. Now she has to find them.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** Nancy never seems to be happy except when she is on a case. That is until she get a case where the lives of two of her friends are hanging in the balance. She was used to working side by side with the Hardy boys to solve cases. Now she has to find them before it's too late.

**Warning:** Rated for some violence in later chapters. In my opinion it's not that bad though. (and I can't even watch Scream without shutting my eyes and humming at the scary parts).

**Disclaimer:** I don't really know who owns Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, but it's definitely not me.

**AN:** First fanfiction ever, so I'm kind of excited!

**Chapter 1**

The moment she saw his face she knew. Something was wrong. This was a man who had braved gunfire and outsmarted the smoothest criminals for longer than Nancy had been alive. But she couldn't miss the look of fear and helplessness on his face.

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><p>Nancy had gotten a cryptic but alarming call from Fenton Hardy a few hours before asking her to meet him in New York as soon as possible. Fenton refused to go into the details of it, and simply stated that he needed her help on a case desperately. Normally Nancy would have probably pressed the issue and found out the problem before anything else, but somehow she knew that this case was different. She had asked if Frank and Joe were working the case too, and Fenton's no was a little too shaky for a seasoned detective. So with a heavy heart, Nancy took the first flight out to New York, with the knowledge that something was very wrong.<p>

When Nancy arrived in New York, she was still hoping that her increasing dread was uncalled for. It only took the few minutes to search the waiting room for her hopes to be dashed. Neither Frank nor Joe were there to welcome her, a first. Nancy quickly hailed a cab and ten minutes later arrived at the Hardy home. As she walked up the drive to the door, Nancy was, for the first time in her life, afraid of discovering the truth of what was going on. Arriving at the door, Nancy took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later the door was flung open and Nancy was engulfed by a pair of warm arms.

"Nancy, I'm so glad you came." Laura Hardy backed away and Nancy could see tears forming in her eyes.

"Please tell me what's wrong" Nancy implored. Laura led Nancy into the kitchen saying, "I'd be better if Fenton explained." Nancy saw Fenton and her heart broke. He had his face in his hands and for the first time ever, Fenton looked defeated. He looked up when he heard Laura and Nancy enter the kitchen. Nancy repeated herself, "Please tell me what's wrong." Fenton reached over and gave Nancy a single sheet of paper. Nancy glanced at it and her eyes widened.

In cold, formal letters there was a note that said,

"**Didn't you teach your sons manners? Maybe if you had played fair, then I would play fair with you. You started this, but I'm going to finish this. I wonder, will you stay in your noble profession after your sons are dead? Maybe if you reconsidered your choices a week ago your sons wouldn't need to die. Don't get me wrong, I haven't killed them yet. But I will if you choose to make our private correspondence available to the public. I will be in touch**."

As she was reading the note, all the blood drained from Nancy's face. "Does this person have Frank and Joe?" she asked. Fenton nodded.

"We intercepted a letter a few weeks ago from New York's biggest smuggling ring. It was addressed to a shipping company based in Canada and discussed a "big deal" that they had made. We didn't have enough for an official arrest. Frank and Joe decided to go undercover into their New York shipping office to try to find out more information to incriminate them."

"So something happened to blow their cover?" Nancy asked

"The last time they checked in they sounded fine. They hadn't found much, but apparently there was an important meeting they were going to try to sneak into that night." Fenton started to break down, "I only agreed to let them go in because they'd be together and we didn't have any other clues." Laura went to her husband and guided him back to his seat at the kitchen table. Finally making an appearance, Gertrude came in with a pot of tea and poured everyone a cup.

"Fenton, Frank and Joe are two of the most capable detectives I've ever met. I know they won't go down without a fight. We will find them." Nancy tried to comfort a father placed in the worst situation possible. Inwardly, Nancy wasn't as sure of their chances of finding her friends alive. Her heart was breaking. Joe and Frank were two of her closest friends. They had met a few years earlier, right before they all graduated from college, when cases they had been working on collided. Unlike many detectives she worked with in the past, Frank and Joe didn't slow her down. In fact, their new perspectives helped her solve the case quickly. Throughout the years, Nancy had returned the favor for Hardy detectives many times. She was often called in when they needed more people then just the Hardys. Her own job as consultant for the River Heights police force left her a lot of time for side projects like these. Normally she enjoyed whenever Fenton called her with a case. Not this time though.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary:** Nancy never seems to be happy except when she is on a case. That is until she get a case where the lives of two of her friends are hanging in the balance. She was used to working side by side with the Hardy boys to solve cases. Now she has to find them before it's too late.

**Warning:** There is violence in this chapter, but in my opinion it's not that bad. (and I can't even watch Scream without shutting my eyes and humming at the scary parts). Also, I probably need to warn people that there will most likely be a Nancy/Frank pairing in later chapters, but it'll be mild and the rating won't go up.

**Disclaimer:** I don't really know who owns Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, but it's definitely not me.

**AN:** I'd like to thank GreatDays for my first review ever!

Chapter 2

Nancy pov

It was late when Nancy got in, so she and Fenton were unable to come up with many clues before they both surrendered to sleep. The next morning she got up early, desperate to start searching for Frank and Joe. Even though it was way before sunrise, Nancy still wasn't the first person up. Fenton was already at work in his home office. Nancy knocked quietly on the door frame. Fenton looked up and told Nancy,

"I'd like us to go into the office early today. I can show you the original note we intercepted and everything we had so far. Maybe you can see something we missed."

"Okay, I'll be ready once I get a cup of coffee." Nancy replied. A half an hour later Nancy and Fenton pulled into the parking garage attached to his office building. It was almost deserted due to the early hour, but there were a couple workaholics already at work. When they entered the building, Fenton was stopped by the man in the security desk.

"Fenton. You left so early yesterday that you forgot to pick up a package for you." the burly security guard informed him.

"Sorry Carl." Carl handed Fenton a medium size box. Nancy and Fenton walked on into the elevator and rode the short time to the fourth floor in silence. Walking into the dark office, Nancy turned on all the lights as Fenton got a box cutter and opened the package that he had been sent. Looking into the box, Fenton let out a gasp.

"Nancy, bring me a pair of gloves." Nancy quickly went and got two pairs of the disposable gloves that they used to handle evidence. She handed Fenton his gloves, put on her own gloves, braced herself, and looked at what was inside the box. There were three things in there. There was a dvd with the words WATCH ME written across it, a new note with a scary trail of blood smeared onto the bottom of it, and something else that Fenton was examining. Nancy leaned in for a closer look.

"Oh my God." Nancy breathed out. In a Ziploc bag containing a lot of blood, there appeared to be Joe's high school ring and three of his fingernails that looked like they were ripped straight from the nail bed. Nancy felt slightly sick to her stomach, not because she hadn't seen worse, but because she couldn't imagine this happening to her friends. She picked up the note and saw that it read.

**"Your boys and I are having so much fun getting acquainted. They seem like good boys. Too bad you sentenced them to die. I hope you enjoy the little video I made for you. I will be in touch."**

While Nancy was reading the note, Fenton had gone over to the computer to watch the dvd. Nancy saw that it was starting, so she went over to the desk to watch it with him. After a few seconds, the faces of Frank and Joe showed up on the screen. They were chained up in a dark room without windows. Frank and Joe looked beaten up, but still alive. Frank had a black eye and his shirt was torn, while Joe and a large cut on his forehead and a bandage around his hand. Closer examination of it accounted for Frank's ripped shirt; it looked like Frank had made a crude bandage for Joe.

Nancy gave Fenton's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. She knew how hard this was for him. After a few seconds, a man's voice spoke to Frank and Joe, who had been sleeping.

"Boys, wake up and say hello to your father." The voice was obviously distorted to cover up the man's identity, but it was very effective in rousing the boys. The boys were slightly confused at first until they saw the camera.

"Dad, the meeting was actually a trap-" Joe managed to get out before a burly man rushed him and hit him in the jaw. The distorted voice began yelling instructions at the man to keep the boys quiet. After a few threats and glares, the man moved to the side. Once the burly man left, Frank made his way over to Joe. Nancy could see him asking Joe if he was okay, to which Joe answered with a curt nod.

"Quiet boys, your Dad and I need to have a chat. He needs to understand that his actions have consequences. If only he learned that a week ago, then he wouldn't have his sons blood on his hands." Joe shot up in anger at this.

"No, this isn't Dad's fault." Joe snarled angrily

"Joseph, didn't I tell you to be quiet. You know, disobedience has its consequences." The burly man disappeared off-camera for a second. Nancy could hear the slightest touch of a whispered conversation, and when the burly man reappeared a minute later, he had on the scariest of smiles.

"Now, where are my manners, let me introduce my friend Grant to you. He didn't like how rude you were to me earlier and he's thought up a perfect punishment. This will teach you the same lesson I'm trying to get through to your father: that your actions hurt other people as much as yourself." Then the man behind the camera threw a 9 in. switchblade to Grant, who caught it with the ease of familiarity. A couple more thugs ran up to grab Frank and Joe in unbreakable holds. Then Grant started advancing, not at Joe, but at Frank. He flipped the knife open with a grin. Joe looked at Grant with a look of horror.

"No! I was the one that messed up, not Frank." Joe shouted furiously. Grant didn't even acknowledge him and continued advancing on Frank. He stopped a few feet from Frank and began studying him. Frank was keeping up a brave face, and Nancy could see him bracing himself for what was to come. Nancy knew that Frank would try to react as little as possible because he knew his father would watch it.

Suddenly, Grant lunged out and buried the switchblade up to the hilt in Frank's stomach. Joe's scream was actually louder than Frank's. Grant slowly pulled the blade out and wiped it clean on Frank's shirt.

"Mr. Hardy, I hope you enjoyed the little preview into what your boys will have to endure over the next three days. Yes, I've decided that they only have three days before I kill them. I know that I've given you a lot to think about, and you will hear from me again." Following these words from the boss, Grant stepped back and the thugs released Frank and Joe. Frank's legs gave out on him and he fell to the floor. Then the tape went dark.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary:** Nancy never seems to be happy except when she is on a case. That is until she get a case where the lives of two of her friends are hanging in the balance. She was used to working side by side with the Hardy boys to solve cases. Now she has to find them before it's too late.

**Warning:** No violence in this chapter, but there will be some in the future. (probably the next chapter, but don't hold me to that)

**Disclaimer:** I don't really know who owns Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, but it's definitely not me.

**A/N: **This chapter is kinda inspired by one of my favorite tv shows, Criminal Minds. Nancy and Fenton do some profiling to narrow down the suspects.

Chapter 3

It took Nancy and Fenton a few moments to comprehend what had happened. Then Nancy offered to take all of the new evidence to the lab to be processed, giving Fenton some alone time.

"Maybe they can find something in all of this." Nancy offered as parting hope. She herself was having trouble controlling her emotions. She was close to both Frank and Joe, but it had always seemed like Nancy and Frank fit together so effortlessly when working investigations. Since that package was delivered yesterday, that meant that today was already day two. She couldn't believe that they only had one more day to find Frank and Joe. She hoped that would be enough time. What they really needed was for the leader to mess up and give them something to go on. Nancy picked up her pace. Maybe there would be some evidence in the package they had been sent.

It had taken almost an hour for Nancy to take the box over to the forensic lab and explain to them all they needed to look for. When she got back to the office, Fenton had just hung up the phone.

"I called the post office about the package, and it was the Grant in the video who dropped it off."

"Well, I asked the lab to look into the video and identify the people in it. They're also doing DNA tests on the blood and fingerprinting everything. They said they'd prioritize this case and call back as soon as they found anything." Nancy informed Fenton. "Can you go ahead and show me the first note and everything you had on the company originally?"

"The note was on one of the smugglers that we caught separately on a DUI. It hadn't been delivered yet." Fenton handed Nancy a photocopy version of the note. Nancy skimmed the note. It appeared to be pretty straightforward. It was a simple thank you note for a "job" well done.

"I didn't know that smugglers sent out thank you notes." Nancy remarked.

"We thought it must have been a specialty job, very sensitive. The boys and I researched the shipping company that it was sent to, but we couldn't find anything suspicious. They thought that it might be an isolated offender working under the cover of the shipping company to do their own dirty work."

"If the company is upstanding, shouldn't it do background checks on its employees?" Nancy asked.

"We checked into that before we sent the boys in. Apparently this is his first criminal endeavor or he just hasn't been caught yet" Fenton began rifling through his papers.

"There's one thing that's been bothering me. This guy seems to be more upset at you than at Frank and Joe, almost like it's personal. Why would he be that upset at you for a simple undercover assignment?"

Fenton looked taken aback by this idea. "You're right. I've been so upset by this case that I'm missing the simple facts. This kind of anger doesn't come out of nowhere. I bet he already had a grudge against me, and capturing the boys just set him off." This idea seemed to revive Fenton, and Nancy felt the same way too. This was the clue they had been so desperate for.

"Can you think of anyone who would have this grudge against you?"Nancy asked.

"Nancy, I arrest 60 people a year. So add in 30 years of detective work, the families of everyone I've arrested, and the families of victims which I've failed to save. That's probably a few thousand people who hate me." Fenton answered.

Nancy began began biting her lip, a bad habit she had when she was thinking. How would they find out the villain in a sea of them? "Maybe when the lab identifies the thugs in the video, we can try to connect them back to someone involved in one of your cases."

"In the meantime, we should still go over some of my cases and at least try to narrow it down somehow. You know, this seems like a lot of hate for a simple prison sentence. This guy is obsessed with killing my boys, almost as if he blames me for the death of someone he loved."

"Okay, so can we narrow it down to families of victims you failed to save and the families of criminals that died in prison?" Fenton nodded and rushed out of the room to grab the files. Fenton and Nancy spent the next hours quietly flipping through cases. Occasionally Nancy would ask Fenton about details of certain cases. Both the detectives were calmer now that they felt more productive. At about 3:00, Nancy phone began to ring. Looking at the caller ID, she saw that it was the lab calling back. She quickly picked up the phone.

"Ms. Drew, we looked into the video you sent and identified the men in the video. We're faxing all the information over. " Nancy looked up and sure enough, the fax machine was spitting out pages of information. "Thank you, if you can find anything else, please don't hesitate to call." Nancy hung up the phone and went over to look at the faxes. Fenton was already shuffling the pages.

"It looks like the thugs in the video are already wanted by the police. That's why they didn't care that they showed their faces in the video. The main one is Grant Lewis, wanted for the murder of his landlord two years ago." Fenton read from the papers he was holding. Nancy looked down at the paper Fenton had handed her. It was slightly disappointing: only saying that they were unable to unscramble the distorted voice on the video. Nancy felt herself almost wishing that they would be sent another video or note. Fenton and she had narrowed it down to 80 cases from the last five years, but they needed a new parameter to narrow it down from there. 80 was still way too many to be helpful to them.

Nancy sighed to herself. She didn't feel any of the vigor that a new case normally gave her. Instead, she had a knot of worry in the pit of her stomach. Frank and Joe didn't deserve any of this, and the thought that they might not make it through this was always in the back of her mind. Thankfully, it seemed like someone had heard Nancy's wish for new clues, because Fenton's phone began ringing insistently.

"Hello," Fenton answered. He listened to whoever was on the phone for about a minute before getting up and grabbing his coat. "Don't worry. We'll be right over." Fenton hung up the phone and turned to Nancy. "That was Laura. There was a package delivered to the house." Nancy jumped up and got her coat too. As they rushed out the door, Nancy couldn't help but feel excitement in having a new clue. Then again, apprehension for what could be in the package settled around her. Fenton seemed to be in the same mindset, because he was breaking all of the speed limits as they raced towards the Hardy home. Nancy began steadying herself, hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary:** Nancy never seems to be happy except when she is on a case. That is until she get a case where the lives of two of her friends are hanging in the balance. She was used to working side by side with the Hardy boys to solve cases. Now she has to find them before it's too late.

**Warning:**This chapter does have violence, but in my opinion there's a really emotional scene that bothers me more than the violence.

**Disclaimer:** I don't really know who owns Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, but it's definitely not me.

**A/N: **You don't know how excited reviews make me. Thanks kazzylovesthehardys, GreatDays, Agent Striker, SinfulAshe, and leyapearl. I really have been taking your advice into consideration. Also, I left a clue to where the boys are being held in this chapter. It's really obscure and I'll be impressed if anyone sees it.

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

After arriving home in record time, Fenton and Nancy raced inside. Laura had the box sitting on the kitchen table.

"I didn't open it because I didn't have gloves and didn't want to compromise any of the evidence." Laura explained. Fenton looked at her in surprise. "You can't spend 30 years married to a detective and not pick up a few things." Fenton smiled. Meanwhile, Nancy got the box cutter out of a drawer and took a seat at the kitchen table in front of the package. She looked up at Laura.

"Do you want to be in here when we open this?" Nancy asked. Laura steeled herself and replied,

"I want to be here for my sons." At this Fenton and Laura also took seats at the table, and when Fenton nodded, Nancy began opening the box. Inside there were a dvd labeled "The Sequel". Nancy ran to her room to get her laptop so they could view the dvd. She returned to find Fenton standing up behind his wife with a arm around her shoulders. Nancy inserted the dvd into her computer and watched as Joe's face came into view. He was in a different room, and Nancy couldn't see Frank anywhere. The same distorted voice came over the dvd first,

"Fenton, I hope by now you've accepted the fact that you will never see your sons again. I've graciously allowed Joe to say his final goodbye to you. Too bad you didn't leave my son the same courtesy." Fenton raised an eyebrow at this. The man had just given away a huge clue towards finding him. Fenton considered this a much greater courtesy than letting his son say his final goodbye, mainly because he was still holding onto hope that they would find the boys alive. Before Fenton could contemplate this longer, Joe began speaking, immediately softening the expression on his father's face.

"Frank and I don't blame you for this. Our deaths are not your fault. Ultimately this man wants to break you, and you need to make sure that doesn't happen. Neither Frank nor I regret our choices, but we're sorry that it had to end like this. Dad, we need you to be strong for Mom. Remember how much we love you, both you and Mom. You've always been our role model, and we still don't regret following you into detective work." Joe, who had been fighting tears the entire time, broke off and buried his head in his hands. By now both Laura and Fenton were in tears and Fenton's pose mirrored that of his son.

Nancy, too, found that she couldn't control the tears streaming down her face. She knew that these reactions were exactly what the man wanted, but she couldn't stop herself. Hearing Joe say his goodbye made the possibility of them dying all the more real, and Nancy couldn't imagine a world without Frank and Joe. At this thought, Nancy's resolve hardened. She would not let this awful man take Frank and Joe from her. To do this, she would have to stay focused on the case with a clear mind.

By now the tape had faded to black. Nancy slowly closed her laptop as both of the Hardys exited the room. She knew that they would need time alone, so she stayed where she was to work on the case. The revelation that the man's son was killed was a major breakthrough for the case. She was able to narrow down a list of suspects to 45 different fathers, which she sent to the shipping company to check to see if they employed any of them. The company said that it would run all the names through their system and send her the results as soon as possible. This done, Nancy decided to check her email to see if the lab had any more results from the evidence she had dropped off earlier. Quickly scanning her inbox, Nancy was disappointed because she didn't see an email from the lab. However, on closer inspection she saw that she did have an email. She called for Fenton to come back, and he came running, alarmed by the urgency in her voice. Right in her inbox there was an email from an anonymous sender with the subject "Consequences". Nancy looked up at Fenton, who gave a nod for her to read the email.

**"Well, Ms Drew, I hope that you've been a lot of help in finding Frank and Joe, because your presence is disobeying the only rule that I ever gave Mr. Hardy- no outside help was allowed. I guess Mr. Hardy isn't very good at following directions. Remember, disobedience has its consequences."**

There was another video attached to the email. Nancy went ahead and clicked on it and this time saw both Frank and Joe. The angle for this video was different than the others. It seemed to be recorded from a security camera mounted on the ceiling. It had a time stamp on it revealing that the tape was made only an hour before. Nancy was relieved to see Frank conscious. Though he looked pale and was lying very still, it didn't seem like the knife had pierced a vital organ or artery. If it had, then Frank would already be dead. For the first few seconds of the video, everything seemed alright. Frank and Joe were still in chains, but they were having a conversation about something. Then out of nowhere, a look of panic crossed Joe's face, followed shortly after by the same look on Frank's. Tears started streaming down their faces and both started coughing harshly. After a tortuous minute of this, Joe started to vomit severely as shakes raked his body. Frank seemed to be having less severe symptoms, but Nancy could tell that every cough was agonizingly painful for him. Joe was now having trouble breathing, as if his airway was constricting. This lasted for another few minutes until Nancy was sure that Joe was going to pass out from lack of oxygen. Then Nancy heard what sounded like a large fan kick in. Both of the boys symptoms began lessening slightly as the air obviously began to clear. The last visible thing in the video was a message scrolling across the screen that said "**Disobedience has its consequences**."

After the video had ended, Nancy could feel herself shaking. Fenton looked close to vomiting. It was obvious to both of them what had happened. There had been some sort of airborne chemical released into their room. From what Nancy had seen, she guessed that it was a high level of CS gas. In fact, she hoped that was what it was because CS gas was one of the milder chemical agents. At least its effects were considered nonlethal except in very high doses. As Nancy pondered this, Fenton took the mouse from her and clicked on another email that had just come in. It was the reply from the shipping company. They had a match. It seemed that Frank and Joe's torturer went by the common name of John Anderson.

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><p><strong>AN: **I did a lot of research for this chapter. Then I remembered a clip of National Guard trainees being made to go into a room of CS gas that I watched in my government class and it looked horrible. In normal concentration, it doesn't leave any lingering side effects, but with prolonged exposure to high concentrations it can damage the lungs and and other internal organs. BTW I picked the villain's name by scrolling down my list of Facebook friends. If you have the same name, I'm sorry. It was really just random.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary:** Nancy never seems to be happy except when she is on a case. That is until she get a case where the lives of two of her friends are hanging in the balance. She was used to working side by side with the Hardy boys to solve cases. Now she has to find them before it's too late.

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><p><strong>Warning:<strong> No violence in this chapter, but there's more to come.

**Disclaimer:** I don't really know who owns Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, but it's definitely not me. I also had Nancy's tech friend based upon Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds, but I don't own her either.

**A/N: **You know, now that I've set up a time-line to finish this story, it's getting a lot harder to write. I'm leaving for vacation next Friday for two weeks, so I really want to have the story done by then. Thanks to those who tried guessing where the boys were being held. It's revealed in this chapter (though I almost had Nancy not figure out the clue I left in the last chapter because it was so obscure. But Nancy's awesome, so she figured it out.)

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><p>Chapter 5<p>

Getting the name of the kidnapper was a huge breakthrough for Nancy and Fenton, but it didn't mean that they knew where Frank and Joe were being held. Fenton got on the phone to call up a SWAT team to go to his house, leaving Nancy alone to handle all the evidence. The first call she made was to a friend who was a magician with computers to try to trace the email. Luckily she was still at work, even though it was 8 on a Friday night. Nancy guessed that computer magicians didn't have the most active social lives. But then again, neither did detectives.

After that she settled down to work on the all video tapes they were sent. She rewatched the tapes to see if she could get any more clues to where they were being held. As she watched the videos, Nancy couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing something. Frank and Joe were seasoned detectives and it seemed to Nancy like they must have left some sort of clue to find them. It was so frustrating for Nancy to not be able to see clearly all the clues. She thought that the persons she really needed to find the Hardy boys were Frank and Joe themselves. Frank and Joe always forced her to widen her possibilities and perspective when they worked a case together. These thoughts gave Nancy an idea. To find the clue that Frank and Joe left for her, she should try to think like them. Just as she started to immerse herself in this, Fenton called from John Anderson's house.

"Nancy, the SWAT team just searched Anderson's house and it was completely deserted. It looks like the house has been deserted for a couple of months, which would make sense because that was when his son Charles was killed in a prison riot. The police took hold of his assets and it doesn't look good. It appears that right before Frank and Joe were taken, he closed all his accounts at his bank. The problem is that there wasn't even that much money left in there. Maybe just enough to hold two boys captive for a few days. The SWAT team is going to continue to sweep the house to see if they find a clue to where the boys are being held, but I'm on my way home to help you." After a few more minutes speculating where Anderson would keep the location of his hideout, Nancy hung up the phone, but almost immediately she got a call from her tech friend.

"Hey Penny, what did you find?" Nancy asked.

"I traced that email through 20 different routers, but I couldn't seem to pinpoint exactly where the email was originally sent from. I was able to work my magic and narrow the location down to somewhere on the north side of town."

"Thanks for the help Penny."

"I would do anything for those boys, sweetheart. Now, you need to go and find them for me." Nancy hung up the phone. She had been hoping for a more exact location. The north side of town contained a lot of rundown industrial locations, any of which could be used as a hideout. She sighed and went back to what she had been originally doing. She tried to refocus her mind on thinking like the brothers and began watching the last video to see if she could pick up anything new. At first she couldn't see anything different, but then she caught it. At the very beginning of the tape, when the boys were still talking, she could see both of them doing something with their hands. It looked like Frank was trying to teach Joe how to spell something in Morse code. Nancy grinned. Even with a knife wound, Frank would come up with a plan to send to Nancy their location. She tried to pick up what Frank was doing, but she couldn't recognize a whole word before they stopped what they were doing as the CS gas appeared. After rewinding it a few times, Nancy thought that she recognized the letters FOUN. She desperately searched for the entire word, but that was all that she could see. Without more of the word, Nancy still couldn't use it to find them.

Feeling as though she had missed out on the major breakthrough that they were praying for, she switched to watching Joe's goodbye again. When they first received the video, she was certain that Joe would have slipped a hidden message in, but Nancy hadn't yet seen it. After a few minutes of frustration, she decided to write down the message to have a better look at it. She started copying the message but suddenly stopped halfway through. Seeing the message on paper made it clear to her. She read what she had already written. When she looked at the first letter of each sentence, she could see that the message read FOUNDRY. Foundry! That must have been what Frank was trying to teach Joe how to spell. She quickly phoned Fenton with the news. He answered on the first ring.

"Nancy, I'm just pulling up to the house."

"Good, because I know where Frank and Joe are being held."

She ran outside as Fenton pulled in and jumped right into the car. He looked at her expectantly, and she began to explain,

"There being held in a foundry somewhere on the north side of town." Fenton gave her a look and screeched out of the driveway.

"There's an abandoned foundry right near the northern border of town. Can you call the police for backup?" Nancy did what Fenton asked and called the police department, who assured her that they were on the way. While they were stopped for a red light, Fenton leaned over and opened the glove compartment. Inside there were two pistols. He took one and handed the other to Nancy. "Just in case" he told her. Nancy wasn't fond of guns but had been trained in how to use one for her position with the River Heights police department. However, she was able to put her feelings aside this time. She would do whatever it took to save Frank and Joe.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Sorry that this is so short, but next chapter they rescue Frank and Joe! If you don't know, a foundry is a type of factory.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary:** Nancy never seems to be happy except when she is on a case. That is until she get a case where the lives of two of her friends are hanging in the balance. She was used to working side by side with the Hardy boys to solve cases. Now she has to find them before it's too late.

**Warning:** Yes, there is violence, but it's not that big of deal.

**Disclaimer:** I don't really know who owns Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, but it's definitely not me. I also had Nancy's tech friend based upon Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds, but I don't own her either.

**A/N: **Sorry for the wait, but I was sooooo stuck! Between being sick, having a deadline, and the obnoxiously catching vbs songs in my head right now, I couldn't even start this until tonight. This chapter is long though, and it contains Fenton's and the bad guy's pov as well as Nancy's.

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><p>Chapter 6<p>

As Fenton and Nancy pulled into a parking lot half a block from the old foundry. Nancy received a text from Penny.

"Thank you Penny," Nancy had to whisper to herself. She quickly explained to Fenton. "Penny just sent me a map of the factory with the place they'll most likely be marked."

"We should still wait for the SWAT team to get here before we move in." Fenton told her. Nancy knew that this was the safe choice, but she was still anxious to rush in. Thankfully, the squadron of police cars arrived less than a minute later. As soon as they arrived, Nancy and Fenton began planning with the Police Chief the best way to attack the place. They decided to split up into three teams. The first team would cover the main floor of the plant, while the second team went around back and the third team would sweep the storage area that Penny picked as the most likely place for the boys to be. Nancy would be working with the second team to hopefully catch any criminals who tried to escape out the back and Fenton would be working with the third team to rush in and save the boys. With any luck, the entire operation would only take fifteen minutes, and they would have Frank and Joe back.

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><p>John Anderson pov<p>

John smiled as Grant told him that Fenton and Nancy had figured out his location and were planning with SWAT how to take back Frank and Joe. All of his other employees had already fled, he was actually wondering why Grant hadn't yet. He was his son's best friend, but he'd almost certainly go down for his old warrant if he stayed around. He figured that he had ten minutes until the foundry was swarmed with police. Plenty of time to get away if he wanted to. But the thing was, John didn't care about getting away. He still had unfinished business with Fenton and wouldn't leave until he made him feel at least the same amount of pain that he himself had felt at the death of his son. He didn't care if he died in the fight today; in fact, when he first captured the boys he knew the likelihood of surviving the experience was slim. But he knew that it would be worth it to see Fenton's face when he killed his boys.

His son didn't deserve to die in prison. He was a good man until his gambling debts forced him into working with the New York City smuggling ring. When he was arrested, John began his own smuggling operation under the disguise of the shipping company to help his son pay back his debts. He figured that if his son came out of prison with a clean slate, then he could get away from the underground world and start over. All those dreams ended when his son was killed in a prison riot. Now John had nothing left. No money, no family, no future. He was only going through the motions until he caught word of two new employees of the shipping company that were being a little nosy for their own good. When he checked them out and discovered that they were actually the sons of Fenton Hardy, his life found a new purpose. He would avenge his son's death. This was the thing that kept John going now. When his job was complete and he saw the same look of emptiness and loss on Fenton's face, then he would be content with whatever else happened. Even if it was his death.

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><p>Fenton Hardy pov<p>

Fenton just barely stopped himself from just charging straight in there when they arrived at the factory. It took all of his self control to do the smart thing and wait for backup. When it did, he insisted on leading the charge to save his sons. After all they had gone through for him, he felt that he owed them this. Right before his team was supposed to go in, he went up to Nancy to give her one last piece of advice.

"Nancy, promise me you'll be careful. John Anderson has been bad enough to deal with, but he would be nothing to Carson Drew if I let his little girl get hurt on my watch." Fenton was actually serious about this. He knew that Nancy was everything to Carson. In fact, when Fenton first asked Nancy to help him with a case, Carson had insisted on meeting with him to stress the importance of keeping his little girl safe. Or else.

Nancy assured Fenton that she would be careful, then both Fenton and Nancy went back to their teams to wait for the go signal. At a nod from the SWAT leader, Fenton and his team charged into the dark foundry. The storage area they were looking for was to the right of the factory and a little difficult to get to. The main problem was that there was a lot of dark hiding places where someone could be waiting with a gun, so the SWAT team had to clear all of those spots first before moving on. Finally they reached the corridor that led to the storage area. In one swift motion, Fenton and the SWAT team swarmed the area, but what they saw stopped them in there tracks. There was Frank and Joe, looking battered but alive. Then there was John Anderson,holding a gun to both of their heads. Normally the SWAT team would have gone ahead and taken the shot, but Anderson was using both Frank and Joe as shields so they couldn't get a clean shot in.

"Fenton Hardy, you came just in time for the show." Fenton was hardly hearing what Anderson was saying as he stared into the eyes of his sons. He was proud to see, not defeat, but defiance. He could tell that both boys were itching to do something but neither were willing to risk the life of his brother in an escape attempt. To Fenton it looked like John Anderson had really gone off the deep end and he would have pitied him if he didn't have a gun on each of his sons. Fenton decided to try to talk Anderson down.

"John, I know why you're mad at me. I'm sorry that your son died in prison but killing my sons won't fix anything. They were away in college when I arrested your son; they had nothing to do with this." Fenton spoke calmly. However, his words seemed to aggravate John even more.

"I don't want to fix anything! I want you to feel the same pain that I've been living with," Anderson shouted. His hands squeezed the trigger tighter. Then everything seemed to happen in a blink of the eye.

A gunshot rang out.

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><p>Nancy pov<p>

Nancy took her place with her team as they waited for the okay to advance. She was a little disappointed that she couldn't be on the team with Fenton, but she knew that Fenton was just being protective of her. Her own team was going to sweep the office area of the plant and then double back. Nancy looked over and saw the nod from her SWAT leader and her team swarmed in the back entrance of the factory. Nancy and the four other members of the team made quick work of the office space and found it deserted. When they regrouped, Nancy suggested that they use a side entrance to the storage area that she remembered from the map to go and check if Fenton's team was there and if Frank and Joe were okay. Her teammates agreed, so Nancy led the way. As Nancy approached the door, she heard a noise coming from a side hallway. She turned quickly to see what it was, but before she could react any further, all of the nerves in her left shoulder and arm suddenly felt like they were on fire and she was knocked over. She looked up but the other SWAT guys on her team had already tackled Grant and handcuffed him. Brentt, the SWAT leader of her team came to help Nancy up. Nancy looked into his eyes and told him.

"I'll take an ambulance later. You can have a couple of the guys take Grant back; I'm making sure Frank and Joe are safe." Brentt was apparently a smart man because he didn't argue with Nancy. He ordered the rest of his men to take Grant back to the police cars outside while he and Nancy checked out the rest of the area. Nancy was grateful that she didn't have to argue with Brentt because her shoulder still felt like a hundred pins were stuck in it, but she wouldn't feel right leaving without knowing that Frank and Joe were alright. After all they had been through, Nancy could tough it out for a few more minutes.

When Nancy opened the door to the storage area, it didn't take her long to realize the severity of the situation. John Anderson had positioned the boys so Fenton and the SWAT team couldn't get a clear shot of him. However, from where Nancy was standing, she could get a side shot of him without endangering Frank or Joe. Unhesitatingly, Nancy brought up the pistol Fenton had given her and fired. The bullet landed in the lower leg of Anderson and brought him to the floor. Frank and Joe took advantage of his surprise and had John pinned before he could recover from the shock. Fenton's SWAT team moved and had Anderson secured in a matter of seconds. Fenton ran up to Frank and Joe, as did Nancy. Nobody could stop their tears as the incredibly long couple of days caught up to them. Nancy couldn't believe that they had actually done it, that they actually had Frank and Joe back. There had been times during the investigation when she thought that this reunion would never come. The hug Frank pulled her into hurt her shoulder, but she ignored the pain, simply grateful that she got the chance to hold him again.

"I think that I would like to get out of here now." Joe told the rest of them. Nancy laughed and wiped the tears off her face as she and the Hardys walked out into the waiting ambulances.

It was finally over and now it was time to heal.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> This is not going to be one of those fics where the bad guy escapes a million times and keeps coming back. Anderson is in jail for good. I couldn't kill him because I wanted Nancy to take the shot, and, in my mind, Nancy wouldn't kill anyone. Now comes the hospital and aftermath.

**P.S.** Is anyone else excited about the Harry Potter premiere Friday morning? I have my ticket and I'm REALLY EXCITED! Snape...Snape...Severus Snape...DUMBLEDORE!

**P.P.S**. I know I'm a nerd and I'm okay with that. :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary:** Nancy never seems to be happy except when she is on a case. That is until she get a case where the lives of two of her friends are hanging in the balance. She was used to working side by side with the Hardy boys to solve cases. Now she has to find them before it's too late.

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><p><strong>Warning:<strong> No violence in this chapter, but there is medical stuff which might gross out some people.

**Disclaimer:** I don't really know who owns Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, but it's definitely not me.

**AN: **I had an anonymous reviewer that pointed out a few things for me. Sorry if it was fuzzy in the last chapter, but Anderson had a gun in each hand, alas he had one pointed at both Frank and Joe. In regards to Frank, adrenaline lets people do amazing things when they're injured. Like the guy who cut his arm off and hiked three miles to safety. Also, in my imagination, where this story is taking place, Frank Hardy is actually a superhero with awesome ninja powers.

BTW, I'm going into college to study engineering, not medicine. So all of my medical knowledge is from shows like House or from Google. I'm sure that mistakes are made, so don't be too harsh on me.

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><p>Chapter 7<p>

Nancy pov

Even before Nancy and the Hardys completely exited the foundry, Nancy saw Frank start to falter as he came off his adrenaline high and could feel how hurt he actually was. Thankfully, they made it outside and Fenton yelled for the paramedics to come over. If Nancy hadn't been so concerned about Frank, she might have started laughing at how hard Joe was trying to avoid an ambulance ride. Nancy herself didn't really want to ride in the ambulance either, but she got in with Joe, hoping that with her along he wouldn't harass the paramedics too much. Before the paramedics closed the door on her ambulance, she could see another set of paramedics put Frank on a gurney and insert an IV in his arm.

"You know, there were times over the last couple of days when I wasn't sure if we were going to make it, but Frank wouldn't let me give up. He was certain that you and Dad would find us." Joe confessed to Nancy once they were on the road. "After he got stabbed, I tried to help by him, but the entire time I was going through my head the worse case scenarios of what could happen." Joe lowered his voice. "I'll just feel so guilty if I make it out of this and Frank doesn't."

Nancy knew that Joe would blame himself for Frank's injuries, and she hated that he felt that way. Joe had always been like a little brother to Nancy, so she tried to cheer him up. She reached out with her good arm and put it around Joe. "Frank has survived this long; he wouldn't dare die now and face the wrath of your Aunt Gertrude." When this didn't get a smile out of Joe, she went on. "I do know that he'd be furious if he knew that you were blaming yourself for this. This is Anderson's fault, not yours, not Frank's, not your father's. Blaming yourself won't make Frank better, but it will destroy you if you don't let it go."

Joe smiled and pulled her into a tighter hug. "Thanks Nancy. For being you. For finding and saving us."

The ambulance finally pulled up to the hospital and the paramedics rushed Joe and Nancy in to the Emergency Room. A doctor came in to look at Nancy's shoulder and check Joe out. After examining Nancy's shoulder, he told her,

"Well, thankfully it looks like the knife just went through muscle. Once we stitch it up, it looks like it'll heal fine." The doctor called in a nurse to start cleaning Nancy's shoulder and preparing it for stitches while he looked over Joe.

"I think that Joe might've gotten exposed to a high level of CS gas a few hours ago." Nancy called out to the doctor.

"Well, CS gas can do some serious lung damage, and I do hear some wheezing. I don't think that there are any serious problems, but I'm going to do a chest x-ray to make sure," the doctor told Joe, who didn't look thrilled at the prospect. Joe left with another nurse to get the x-ray while the doctor started stitching up Nancy's shoulder.

"Do you know how Frank Hardy is doing?" Nancy asked the doctor, partially to distract herself and partially because she needed to know. The doctor, still concentrating on Nancy's stitches replied,

"They had to take Frank in for exploratory surgery to see exactly what the damage was." The doctor must have seen the look of fear on Nancy's face because he added, "Your friend was very lucky. If he had been stabbed in a vital organ, he'd already be dead." The rest of the time it took the doctor to stitch Nancy up, they sat in silence. Just about when the doctor was done, Joe came back into the room. The nurse handed the x-ray to the doctor, who studied it for a minute.

"Well, it looks like you were pretty lucky, Mr. Hardy. I don't see any major scarring or trauma. Just watch yourself for signs of pneumonia or bronchitis, which you'll be more susceptible to in the next few days as your lungs are recovering. Once we get Ms. Drew a sling for her shoulder, you and Ms. Drew will be good to go." Nancy and Joe smiled at this. The nurse helped Nancy get into her sling and told her to come back in two weeks to get her stitches removed. Before leaving the room, the doctor turned around and told Joe,

"Your parents are in the waiting room on the third floor for news on Frank."

With that, Nancy and Joe hurried out of the ER and up to where Fenton and Laura Hardy were waiting. When they reached the room, Nancy lingered at the doorway, letting Joe and his parents have a private reunion. Laura ran up to her son and engulfed him in a hug, which he returned with enthusiasm. Fenton went over and put a reassuring hand on Joe's back. When Laura noticed that Nancy was waiting outside, she motioned her over and grabbed her in a hug too, being careful to avoid her shoulder.

"Thank you for saving my sons." Laura whispered into her ear.

By now it was late at night, but both Nancy and the Hardys were too on edge about Frank to feel tired. For the next couple of hours, they mainly sat in silence, waiting for any news. Finally they saw a doctor approach.

"Well, the exploratory part of the surgery is now over. Your son was lucky because the knife didn't penetrate his liver or intestines. The blow was on his left side, missing the liver, but hitting the spleen instead. Fortunately, the knife only nicked his spleen, so Frank didn't immediately bleed out. However, the blood that did pool around his spleen enough to put pressure on it, so that it ended up rupturing sometime this afternoon. The doctors are going to have to remove his spleen and drain the blood, but it looks like Frank will end up pulling through" At this news, the entire family was ecstatic. Though Frank's injuries were plenty serious, he would be lucky enough to survive. Tears of relief could be seen on Joe's face as he learned that he would not have to face life without his brother. Nancy could finally celebrate her victory now that Frank's life was no longer in question. She realized that the next few days would still be difficult, but she found that she had the strength to face them as long as it looked like the Hardy boys would be alright.

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><p><strong>AN<strong>: This seemed to be the only injury I could find where it would be somewhat plausible that he would still be alive. Also, you can live with being spleenless; my Dad has been without a spleen for the last 40 years without it affecting his life whatsoever.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary:** Nancy never seems to be happy except when she is on a case. That is until she get a case where the lives of two of her friends are hanging in the balance. She was used to working side by side with the Hardy boys to solve cases. Now she has to find them before it's too late.

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><p><strong>Warning:<strong> No violence in this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I don't really know who owns Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, but it's definitely not me.

AN: I've updated this chapter. Nothing important has changed, just a few errors and awkward words that were bothering me.

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><p>Chapter 8<p>

It was in the early hours of the morning that Frank ended up coming out of surgery. The attending physician told them that the surgery had gone as well as expected, but that they wouldn't be able to see Frank until he was transferred from post-op to the ICU, which would take several hours. Fenton suggested that they go home and freshen up for an hour. Nancy and Joe agreed to this, Nancy because she had blood on her shirt where she had been stabbed, and Joe because he had been kidnapped for the last few days without access to a shower. Laura decided to stay behind in case something happened.

In less than an hour, Fenton, Joe, and Nancy arrived back at the hospital, showered, changed and with coffee in tow. It took another hour before they finally saw a doctor come into the waiting room.

"We have Frank Hardy settled into the ICU. We're probably going to be keeping him there for the next several days to watch out for possible infection, but we have already put him on antibiotics for that. He's awake now, but on high pain medication so he might be a little incoherent. We have an open visitation policy, but right now I'm going to ask that only one person goes in at a time and make each visit short; he needs his rest," the doctor asked.

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><p>Joe Hardy pov<p>

Laura and Fenton Hardy had gone first, and now it was Joe's turn to see Frank. As he walked up to his room, Joe felt a little apprehensive, unsure of what he would find. Frank and he had wound up in the hospital multiple times in the course of their detective work, but never had it been serious enough to land them in the ICU. When Joe opened the door, he saw Frank lying in a tangle of IVs, looking much paler than Joe had ever seen him. Frank was always someone that Joe looked up to, so full of life. It hurt him to see his brother in such bad shape and in a hospital bed.

"See, I told you we'd make it out of this okay." Frank had seen Joe hesitating in the doorway. At Frank's words, Joe moved into the room and sat in the chair beside the bed.

"Your definition of okay is a little off." Joe replied. Frank motioned for Joe to come closer, When he did, Frank whispered,

"You're an idiot. You're blaming yourself for this when it's not your fault that we got kidnapped by a crazy person. Besides, you don't really need your spleen." Joe rolled his eyes at this, but was secretly glad that Frank had confronted him. It meant that Frank was well enough to see through Joe and find his guilt.

"I'm just really glad that you're going to turn out alright. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I'm not going anywhere." It seemed to Joe that Frank always knew exactly what to say to make him feel better. Frank and Joe sat in silence for a few more moments until Joe stood up.

"Nancy wants to see you. Send her in?" Joe asked. When Frank nodded, Joe began walking out but paused at the door and turned around. "Love you bro."

"Love you too."

* * *

><p>Nancy pov<p>

"You can go in now,"Joe said, startling Nancy. She stood up quickly.

"Thanks," Nancy replied. Nancy didn't really know if she should go see Frank, since only family members were supposed to be visiting. However, Fenton and Laura had insisted on it, and Nancy did want to see for herself that Frank was really alright. When Nancy walked into his room, she was shocked at the colorless tone of his skin. It made his close brush with death seem all the more real. Nancy went in and sat by his bed, uncertain of what to say. She didn't have to say anything because Frank spoke first,

"Thank you for saving mine and my brother's lives." Nancy looked up into Franks eyes and something in them hypnotized her to reach out and take his hand.

"Thank you for hanging in there." Frank squeezed her hand.

"Well I couldn't die after you went to so much trouble to find us," Frank replied. Nancy didn't know what was overtaking her, but something about this hospital room was making her be more honest about her feelings than she had ever been.

"I had to find you. The alternative was too horrible to think about." Nancy took a deep breath. "You're the most amazing person I've ever met."

"No Nancy, that's you."

It was at this time that a nurse came into the room.

"I think that Mr. Hardy needs his rest now." Nancy nodded and stood up. Frank gave her hand one last squeeze before closing his eyes. Nancy tiptoed out of room, with just one look back. The weight that had been on her heart since that first phone call suddenly lifted, the world righted once again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary:** Nancy never seems to be happy except when she is on a case. That is until she get a case where the lives of two of her friends are hanging in the balance. She was used to working side by side with the Hardy boys to solve cases. Now she has to find them before it's too late.

**Warning:** Description of past violence.

**Disclaimer:** I don't really know who owns Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, but it's definitely not me.

**AN: **I'm back from vacation. I went and updated the last chapter too. It's just editing errors and awkward wording, but I figured that I should warn you if you want to reread it. This chapter has no Frank/Nancy fluff, but it does show Joe's perspective of when they were kidnapped. Plus it's my longest yet. :)

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><p>Chapter 9<p>

Nancy and the Hardy's were told that they wouldn't be able to speak to Frank again until later in the day, so they decided to go home and get some much needed rest. It was mid-afternoon when they were awakened by a knock on the door. Laura Hardy was the first one to the door. She opened it to reveal a familiar figure.

"Carson! What a pleasant surprise." Laura welcomed Carson Drew inside. The tall and distinguished Drew stepped into the foyer just as Fenton, Nancy, and Joe arrived to see who was calling. When Nancy saw her father, she threw her good arm around him in a hug.

"Dad! I didn't know you were coming." Nancy had told her father about the case when she had first arrived, but in the confusion of the case she had forgotten to call him since the rescue.

"Well, Laura called me from the hospital to tell me what was going on. I had to come to make sure my baby girl was alright." Nancy looked slightly embarrassed about her father's protective behavior but was still glad that he had come. Fenton, on the other hand, looked slightly scared of what Carson would say to him after he let his daughter get hurt.

"Dad, I'll be fine. And it looks like Frank and Joe will be fine too."

At this, Carson turned to Joe, shook his hand, and added, "I'm so happy that both you and your brother are going to be okay."

Joe smiled and replied, "That's thanks to Nancy."

There was a lull in the conversation until Fenton finally broke it.

"Nancy, Joe, I promised the police chief that we would come in today and give our statements. Now would probably be the best time to go."

"I'll go with you," Carson said. "I'm going to offer to take the job of prosecutor on this case."

Nancy tried to argue with him. "You already have too many cases, Dad; you don't need to take this one."

"I want to make sure the trial is run properly. I can't risk Anderson getting off on a technicality and coming back for any of you." This quieted Nancy's argument. She knew that in matters concerning her safety, Carson was impossible to sway.

"Okay, I guess we'll all drive over to the station," Fenton concluded.

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><p>Nancy pov<p>

Half an hour later, Nancy was explaining to an officer how she figured out where Frank and Joe were being held. It was a fairly routine interview until they came to the actual recovery mission of Frank and Joe. Nancy's shot was obviously made in defense of Frank and Joe, but they had to write it up as part of procedure. When asked why she took the shot, Nancy explained,

"Anderson had a gun on two of my best friends. I took the shot because I knew that Frank and Joe wouldn't have come out alive if I didn't." The officer looked satisfied at this answer and asked just one more question before dismissing Nancy.

"You hit Mr. Anderson in the leg. Was that your intention?"

"I knew that if I could injure him, then Frank and Joe could overtake him. I was prepared to do whatever it took to save them, but that didn't end up being necessary." The officer thanked Nancy for her cooperation and told her that they would keep her informed of the status of the case.

* * *

><p>Joe pov<p>

Joe's interview was taking much longer than Nancy's because he had to fill in all the blanks of what happened, starting with their capture.

"Frank and I were undercover for about a week without any progress. We had placed video cameras in the break room, and we finally saw Anderson talking to another employee about a meeting that was supposed to take place that night one of the shipping company's remote warehouses. Apparently Anderson already had discovered us because the meeting was a trap designed to catch us alone without back-up. As soon as we set foot in the building, six men swarmed us. That's where I got the cut on my forehead and Frank got his black eye. We were quickly overpowered, chained up, and put in the back of one of the shipping trucks. They took us to the foundry where we met Anderson. Until then, we thought that we were being captured because of our undercover operation. But Anderson came in and started ranting about us, our father, and all the cases we had solved. He started yelling at us about how our father had ruined his life and how his son didn't deserve to die. Then I yelled something at him and he got really angry-" The policeman conducting the interview interrupted Joe for the first time.

"What specifically did you say to him?"

"Well, I recognized his son from John's description and remembered my father arresting him. The guy was smuggling weapons across the Canadian border and selling them to middle schoolers who liked to think they were gang members. So I told Anderson that 'your son was a criminal and Dad did the world a favor by locking him up.'"

"So he got really angry at you... What did he do?"

Joe held up his left hand. "He had Grant tear out three of my fingernails." The policeman examined his hand and took a picture for evidence. The doctor had cleaned it up and put a proper bandage on it, but the trauma was still evident.

Joe continued with his story. "After that he threw Frank and I into that storage room and chained us up. Frank managed to stop my hand bleeding and to make a bandage for it. We were left alone for awhile and eventually fell asleep. What happened when we woke up is evident by first video Dad was sent. Again, I said something stupid to make him angry. But that time he didn't take his anger out at me; he had Grant stab Frank."

The policeman was particularly interested in this part of the story because it would decide what they would charge Anderson and Grant with. "In the video, Mr. Anderson said that Grant was the one who thought to stab Frank. Is that true?" the policeman asked.

"I couldn't tell whose idea it was, but I did hear Anderson order Grant to 'do it.' After the tape went dark, Anderson told Grant that he his 'bonus' would be waiting in his office. Then everyone left the room, and I ran to check on Frank. Fortunately, he had chained us up so Frank and I could reach each other. He had passed out from the pain, but I immediately applied pressure to stop the bleeding. I did that for the next few hours until the external bleeding stopped." Joe was starting to get emotional talking about how close his brother had come to dying. "I stayed awake that entire night because I didn't want to wake up to find him dead." Seeing how upset Joe was, the policeman gave Joe a few minutes to compose himself. After a five minute break and a glass of water, Joe resumed with the rest of his story

"The next morning Anderson came to get me and told me that I could have 10 minutes to come up with my goodbye message for my parents. I took it as an opportunity to get a clue out to Dad and Nancy, but I knew that it had to be very subtle so Anderson didn't pick up on it. When they were first dragging us in, I saw that we were in the old foundry, so I ended up spelling it out in the message. They had put me in one of the old offices while they were recording. After I was done, they chained me back up with Frank. Not long after that, Frank woke up. He was in a lot of pain but wouldn't even let me apologize for being the reason he got hurt. He said that Anderson was just looking for an excuse to hurt us, that it wasn't my fault. I told him about the message I sent out in the goodbye video, and he came up with the idea to use Morse code in the next video we were sent. He spent the next few hours teaching me how to spell foundry in Morse code. That's what we were doing when Anderson flooded our room with the CS gas. He gave us no warning. When it hit me, my skin and eyes felt like they were on fire. My throat started closing up and I was afraid I was going to suffocate. I think that the inflow of the gas was right above my head because I seemed to get a higher concentration of it than Frank. Then without warning it stopped and nothing else happened until later that night. Anderson ran in with two guns and released us. He put the guns up to our heads and told us that he was going to kill us, but he had to wait for our dad. It was then that the SWAT team burst through the door. Anderson started yelling at Dad, Dad tried unsuccessfully to calm him down, and Anderson was about to pull the trigger. Then Nancy managed to shoot Anderson, which distracted him enough so that Frank and I were able to pin him." Joe concluded his story.

The policeman took down several notes as Joe finished. Then he told Joe that he was free to go. Relieved, Joe exited the interview room and found his father and the Drews waiting on him.

"You okay?" Nancy asked Joe as he walked over to them.

"I'm fine," Joe replied. "This is just one case that I wish were already over."

Carson added in, "Well, I talked with the police chief and Anderson has asked for a speedy trial, so it won't go on for too much longer. The prosecution is still deciding on what charges to file against him, but the evidence is pretty clear cut. I don't think there should be a problem."

Joe was grateful for Carson's involvement in the case. He was not only the best lawyer he knew, but Joe also trusted him completely.

"We were thinking of stopping by the hospital before heading home. What do you think?" Fenton asked Joe.

"Let's go."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> There will be more Frank/Nancy in the next chapter, but I felt that I needed to post this chapter first.

P.S. The air conditioning in my house is out and it's going to be 94 tomorrow. I think I'll spend all of tomorrow at the library with their free wifi, their large supply of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books, and their air conditioning.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary:** Nancy never seems to be happy except when she is on a case. That is until she get a case where the lives of two of her friends are hanging in the balance. She was used to working side by side with the Hardy boys to solve cases. Now she has to find them before it's too late.

* * *

><p><strong>Warning:<strong> Nothing for this chapter

**Disclaimer:** I don't really know who owns Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, but it's definitely not me.

**AN:** Sorry that it took longer than normal to come up with something for this chapter. I tried a lot of things to get out my writers block and none of them seemed to work. I even went to the library and checked out the only Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Super Mystery they had. It just made me sad though because I didn't like it as much as the originals.

P.S. The same warning that I had for the medical stuff, I also have for the legal stuff. I am a type A personality who sings in the church choir and still reads Nancy Drew books. Obviously I've never been to jail except for a field trip in government class. So please cut me some slack on the legal stuff.

* * *

><p>4 days later<p>

Four days later, Nancy, Fenton and Carson were going over the details of the trial while Joe and Laura were at the hospital.

"Have the prosecutors finalized the charges on Anderson?" Nancy asked her dad as she was looking over a copy of her testimony. Fenton and Carson had just come back from a meeting at the police station with the rest of the prosecuting team.

"I think that we finally have," replied Carson. "We've decided to officially charge him with attempted murder, 2 counts of 1st degree kidnapping, 3 counts of assault with a deadly weapon, 2 counts of misdemeanor assault and 1 count of extortion." Nancy was taken aback when she heard this. If all of those charges stuck, then Anderson would easily get life in prison, possibly without parole.

"Wow. That makes me feel sorry for the poor people he attacked," came from a voice towards the front of the house. Nancy whirled around to see Laura walk in, followed by Joe pushing Frank in a wheelchair.

"Frank! Your home!" Nancy exclaimed as she ran to give him a hug. She was careful not to hurt Frank any more, but she was just so glad that he was home.

"Mom convinced the doctor to release him, and then we wanted to surprise you," Joe explained to Nancy, Fenton, and Carson, who had all abandoned their work to welcome Frank home.

"Well, this is the best surprise that we've gotten in ages," Fenton said. "Come on, we should probably go in the living room so Frank and everyone can get comfortable."

"But Frank likes the wheelchair so much," Joe said sarcastically to tease Frank.

Frank rolled his eyes at his brother and retorted, "Yeah, just as much as you liked that ambulance ride." When Joe started to protest, Frank just laughed and said, "Nancy told me about how badly you tried to get out of a ride. At least they didn't sedate you like they threatened." Joe looked at Nancy with a look that read betrayal. Nancy just laughed.

"Hey, he was in the hospital. I had to give him some ammunition against you." Nancy ended with a sweet smile. Joe obviously didn't buy her act cause he continued bickering with his brother. Nancy just stood back and watched them for a second. Never in her life had she met siblings who acted so natural with each other. At some times they teased each other mercilessly, but Nancy knew that they would always have each others back.

"We have cake and iced tea." Laura Hardy called from the living room. It took Frank and Joe less than ten seconds to stop arguing, hurry into the living room, and start eating. Nancy followed them into the living room, and she too managed to put away a few pieces of Laura's chocolate cake.

"Are these the notes for the trial?" Frank asked Carson when he noticed the files that they had been working on.

"Yes. After tomorrow I have to go back home to River Heights until the trial, so I wanted to go over everything we have," Carson answered. Nancy was kind of sad that her dad would be leaving. It had felt nice to have that support again from him, but Nancy knew that Carson couldn't afford to miss any more work. She also knew that she wouldn't be able to stay at the Hardys all the way up to the trial, but she was planning on staying as long as her medical leave would cover. She figured that she could probably stretch it out a few weeks but would never be able to make it the full two months until the trial began. Besides, Nancy doubted that she could go that long without solving a mystery anyway. In fact, Nancy couldn't believe that she had actually gone five days without itching to get a new case. It was a personal record for her.

While Carson was explaining to Frank about all of the information they had compiled, Nancy noticed the mail truck go past the house. Ever since Anderson had delivered Joe's fingernails through the mail, Nancy could sense apprehension in Fenton and Laura whenever it came. To spare them the trouble, Nancy decided to go get the mail herself while everyone else was socializing. When she opened the mailbox, she found it stuffed. She could tell that most of them were get well cards for Frank, but went through them to make sure that there wasn't anymore nasty surprises for the Hardys. What she found made her hesitate for a few seconds on the front porch steps.

It wasn't a threatening letter from a physcopath. It wasn't even annoying junk mail. It was simply a card sent to Frank Hardy from a Ms. Callie Shaw. Nancy had no idea why a nice card from a friend of Frank's was making her so upset. She knew that Frank and Callie had once dated seriously, but they had broken up before Nancy had even met the Hardys. Nancy decided that she was being rediculous and went back inside with a deliberate smile on her face.

"I hope you don't mind that I got the mail for you." Nancy asked the Hardys as she walked back into the living room. Since most of it was for Frank, she placed it in his lap before retaking her seat next to him on the couch.

"Of course we don't mind. It was very thoughtful for you to go get it." Laura reassured Nancy as Frank started opening all of his letters. Callie's letter was near the bottom of the pile, so it took Frank awhile to get to it. As he started to open it, Joe noticed who it was from and snatched it out of his hand.

"Hey! What's the ex-girlfriend doing sending you a get-well card?" he asked.

Frank snatched it back before Joe could open it. "We're still friends and I almost died. I think a card is appropriate." Nancy couldn't help but notice how Frank's cheeks started blushing. Suddenly, the last five days seemed to catch up to Nancy and she felt completely exhausted even though it wasn't much past dinner.

"All of a sudden, I'm feeling really tired. I think I'm going to bed early tonight." Nancy explained as she got up and quickly left the room.

"Are you okay?" her father called out after her.

Nancy turned around and replied, "I'm fine. I just need to get some sleep."

* * *

><p><strong>AN<strong>: I wanted Frank out of the hospital, so he is. I tried to write another hospital scene, but then realized that they didn't really have anything left to say at the hospital.


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